Opinions run hot around pipeline conflicts, and more is ahead of us. There are many arguments for and against civil protest, but one of the most persistent is that these people are hypocrites. That if you drive a car, take a plane, use hairspray, or otherwise consume fossil fuels in any way, you have no right to stand up. This comparison is troubling for a number of reasons.

If a tar sands tanker hits a rock on the Kinder Morgan shipping route past Vancouver Island, the resulting spill could decimate wild salmon, clams, and other food sources that First Nations have relied on for centuries.

When I heard about the protest on Burnaby Mountain, I decided to go up and lend support. During my first several visits there were no police in sight. That changed last Thursday when the RCMP moved in to enforce the injunction handed down by the B.C. Supreme Court. We've seen media photos and video of the physical conflicts that have sometimes developed, but those instances have been rare and it's important to keep them in perspective.

The way tensions between pipeline opponents and Kinder Morgan contractors have escalated during the last week should come as a surprise to no one. The mishandling of the National Energy Board review of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain oil pipeline and tanker proposal has created the conditions for the situation now unfolding on the mountainside.

The power dynamics here are skewed, Rich Kinder. You are besetting my generation with your messes to clean up. You are forbidding us from standing up for ourselves. You are stripping us of our voices. And you are profiting from all this... Aren't you already a billionaire anyway?